38 Facts About Dan Carter

Daniel William Carter was born on 5 March 1982 and is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.

Dan Carter is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, and is considered by many experts as the greatest ever first five-eighth in the history of the game.

Dan Carter was named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year in 2005,2012 and 2015 and has won three Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders, and nine Tri-Nations and Rugby Championships with the All Blacks.

Dan Carter played for the All Blacks in their Rugby World Cup winning teams in both 2011 and 2015, becoming one of 21 players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups.

Dan Carter attended Ellesmere College where he played mostly at first five-eighth, and then in his final year he transferred to Christchurch Boys' High School to further his chances of making it big in rugby.

Dan Carter made his provincial debut for Canterbury in 2002, and in 2003 was signed by the Super Rugby side the Crusaders.

Dan Carter regularly played with first-five eighth Andrew Mehrtens before Mehrtens left the team following their 2004 season.

In 2005 and 2006 the Crusaders won the competition, and in the 2006 season Dan Carter scored the most individual points for a player in one season with 221.

On 31 January 2009 Dan Carter ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for Perpignan against Stade Francais, but Perpignan still managed to win the Top 14 despite Dan Carter being injured for the remainder of the season.

Dan Carter recovered in time to play for his home provincial union, Canterbury, in the opening game of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup.

Dan Carter then won selection to play for the All Blacks against Australia on 22 August 2009 after a few months of recovery.

In May 2012, Dan Carter was the top scorer in Super Rugby history, with 1301 points.

In November 2015 Dan Carter revealed that, while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear in 2013, he met with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots of the National Football League about possibly joining the team as a kicker.

On 25 November 2017, Dan Carter left Racing 92 in France at the end of the season.

On 16 July 2018, Dan Carter joined Kobelco Steelers, a club in the Japanese Top League.

On 17 February 2019, it was announced that Dan Carter was returning to Racing 92 as injury cover after Patrick Lambie was forced to retire due to concussions.

On 4 June 2020, it was announced that Dan Carter was joining The Blues for Super Rugby Aotearoa.

On 20 February 2021, Dan Carter announced that he was retiring from professional rugby via his Instagram.

In June 2003, Dan Carter made his All Blacks debut at age 21 in Hamilton, New Zealand, scoring 20 points against Wales.

Dan Carter was then included in New Zealand's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad, where he first gained serious international attention.

Dan Carter spent much of the later stages of the tournament on the bench leaving New Zealand without a specialist goal-kicker.

Dan Carter had been playing as a second five-eighths up until the end of the 2004 Tri-Nations.

Dan Carter scored two tries, five penalties, and four conversions.

Dan Carter ended the match with 33 points, passing the previous All Blacks record of 18 points in a Lions Test.

Dan Carter was named IRB Player of the Year in 2005, becoming the first New Zealander to win the award.

On 27 November 2010, after scoring a halfway penalty against Wales, Dan Carter became the highest point scorer of all time, overtaking England's Jonny Wilkinson's previous record of 1,178 although Wilkinson took the record back on 26 February 2011 against France.

Dan Carter reclaimed the record on 30 July 2011 when he advanced to 1,204 points in the first tri-nations match of the 2011 series against South Africa.

Dan Carter has currently scored a total of 1,598 test points in 112 tests, with an average of 14.27 points a game.

Dan Carter has signed a contract to re-sign with the NZRU until 2015.

Dan Carter was named IRB Player of the Year in 2012, but eyebrows were raised when he missed out being named in the shortlist for New Zealand Player of the Year.

On 15 August 2015 Dan Carter played his final test in New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park, a trophy he has never lost since his debut.

Dan Carter later appeared with McCaw in a Men In Black themed safety video for Air New Zealand.

Dan Carter became engaged to his longtime girlfriend and former Black Sticks striker Honor Dillon in October 2010 when she was a marketing manager at DB Breweries.

Dan Carter has modelled for Jockey underwear on billboards worldwide since 2003.

Dan Carter has been a spokesmodel for Daikin heat pumps, and from mid-2011, Philips electric shavers.

In February 2017, Dan Carter was caught driving in Paris with a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.

Dan Carter was dropped by his sponsor, Land Rover.

In May 2018, Dan Carter revealed that he declined the offer to switch to National Football League as a kicker for New England Patriots after The Rugby World Cup in 2015.